Coupler for toy railway cars



March 7, 1933. J SHARP 1,900,204

COUPLER FOR' TOY RAILWAY CARS.

Filed July 10, 1931 INVENTOR 1 H626; BY

ATTORNEY 5 JEFFERSON M. SHARP v Patented Mar. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES JEFFERSON M. SHARP, OF OIL .TICE' Y, PENNSYLVANIA COUPLER Fon'ror RAILWAY CARS I Application filed July 10,

Theobject of this invention is, to supply a coupler for cars of the toy class, which coupler shall be a substantially unitary structure rigid throughout, having on structural, relatively movable part-s, simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and more certain to properly function automatically in the coupling movement as well as more facile and easy to operate in its uncoupling movement than are the couplers of this classheretofore produced. 3

The construction whereby I am enabled to attain said objects is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof and in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of two units of my improved coupler in the coupled position or relation,

Fig. 2 is a side view and projection of the adjacent unit of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an underside or inverted plan View of one end of a toy railway car showing a unit of my improved coupler attached thereto at the proper point, which point corresponds to the center pin or swiveling point of the truck.

Fig. 4 is a vertical, longitudinal section through the truck of a toy car taken at about the location indicated by the line IVIV of Fig. 3, only a portion of the car floor being shown in this View.

Fig. 5 is a face View of a stamping in the I fiat as it comes from the die, and from which my coupler is formed.

It is a' well known fact that substantially all car couplers, in their coupled relation, consist of two members of identical construction, or, it might be more properly said that all car couplers consist of av unit of construction that is utilized in duplicate for coupling two cars together. My improved construction conforms to this characteristic.

The construction illustrated in the drawing is substantially as follows:

An attaching member or shank 1 is employed, by means of which the coupler is attached to the truck of a car,'which attachment is at the point corresponding to the pivotal center of the centerplate of a. commercial railway car; an eye, 2, is provided in 1931. Serial No. 549,877.

the end of said shank through which the center'pin, 3, passes for the attachment of the coupler.

The coupler end or head of this device is of, bifurcate formation, one branch, 4;, of which is substantially straight and is in parallel alignment with the longitudinal axis of said shank, and preferably slightly laterally offset therefrom; the other branch 5 is, for a portion of its longitudinal extent, arranged in parallel relation to branch 4:, as shown at 5 and at this parallel portion the branches are spaced apart to form a throat, the extent or width of said space being such as to admit freely branch 4 of another coupler unit thereinto, as illustratedin Fig. 1. Anysuitable engaging member, as a rigidly affixed bolt or rivet 6 extends across said throat or space 6 for engagement with a hook 7 formed adj acent the end and in the lower edge of branch 4, of another unit. Said branch 5, from said parallel portion, 5, diverges outwardly away from branch 4 thus forming a gap 8 which is for the purpose of causing the outer free ends of two couplers to meet co-operatively and move into the engaging or coupling position shown in Fig. 1 regardless of any deviation of the lines of their axis, due to a curve of the track upon which the cars may be, at the instant of coupling same together.

In Fig. 3 of the, drawing, the floor of the car, also the truck is shown in an inverted plan view, the frame of the truck being indicated by the numeral 9, the wheels by the numerals 10, their axles by the numerals 11, the bolster by the numeral 12 and the floor of the car by the numeral 13; the same numerals being applied to corresponding parts in Fig. 4; the center pin whereby the shank of the coupler is attached to the pivotal point, commonly termed the centerplate of the truck, is', as previously stated, indicated by the numeral 3. p

My. improved coupler is preferably formed from sheet metal and for toy cars, metal having a thickness of one sixteenth of an inch is ample, and as for other dimensions, the drawing may be taken as approximately full size. The form of the coupler is such that the width of the shank extends horizontally and the width of the branches & and 5 extend vertically.

The coupler may have such size and relative dimensions as to make it suitable for use in industrial railways.

The coupler head, which comprises the bifurcate portion, may vary in form, as, for in stance, the parallel portion which forms the throat may extend rearwardly to the shank, instead of being triangular, adjacent the shank, as shown.

It will thus be readily noted from the foregoing description that my improved car coupler is a substantially unitary structure which is rigid throughout its extent in the respect that it comprises no structural, relatively movable, component parts, and is provided with a shank whereby it is adapted to be pivotally attached to the center pin of the bolster of the car truck in such manner as to have a free, horizontal radial swinging movement, as well as a limited amount of bodily vertical movement. The coupler members engage by gravity and are disengaged manually by contact with their under side at any point intermediate the bolts or rivets 6 as shown in Fig. 1, so as to cause the coupler heads to move upwardly.

Attention is directed to my copending application, Serial Number 6%9310, filed December 29, 1932, aligning devices for car couplers.

I claim the followin A coupler for toy cars which is a substantially unitary structure composed of sheet metal, structurally rigid throughout, for cooperation with a counterpart coupler upon another car, its engagement with said counterpart coupler eing eiiccted and maintained by the action of gravity, said structure comprising a head of bifurcate formation, one of the branches of which is a straight, horizontally-extending member the flat sides of which are vertically disposed and provided upon its lower edge adjacent its free end with a hook for engagement with an engageable member of such counterpart coupler, the other of said branches having its fiat sides likewise vertically disposed, its rearward portion being parallel with and spaced laterally from said first branch with its forward free end portion diverging laterally from said first branch, a member extending across said spaced portion for engagement of the hook 01" said counterpart coupler, said bifurcate structure being formed into a rearward- 1y extending shank adapted for attachment to the center pin of the truck of a car.

, In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JEFFERSON M. SHARP. 

